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Apple today added yet another set of channels to its Apple TV set-top box, including a "Watch ABC" channel to allow subscribers to certain cable services to watch content from their local ABC affiliate through Apple TV. Other additions include financial channel Bloomberg, streaming movie and TV show channel Crackle, and Korean channel KORTV.

apple_tv_abc_bloomberg.jpg
Today's launches are just a few of the many additions for Apple TV over the past few months, with the most recent previous addition having been Yahoo Screen and PBS last month. Other recent additions included Major League Soccer and Disney Junior in September, Vevo, Smithsonian, and Disney in August, and WatchESPN and HBO GO in June. Apple is also reportedly in talks to launch channels for cable provider Time Warner Cable and TV network The CW.

Update: 9to5Mac has a behind the scenes look at the development process for the Bloomberg channel.
Apple has already streamlined the process of building its current lineup of Apple TV apps-- which mostly consist of streaming video content-- to the point where developers can quickly and easy build apps through an easy to use SDK, much like on iOS. The team behind the development of the Bloomberg app, which consisted of two developers under Bloomberg's head of mobile and connected devices Oke Okaro, told me that Apple's toolkit, an SDK of sorts, has "made it quite easy to build the apps." The team of two developers along with Okaro built the app in just five weeks. Most of that time was spent testing and optimizing the video experience.
Apple reportedly provided some input and feedback along the way in terms of optimizing the user experience, but largely allowed Bloomberg to define what it wanted to include in the channel.

Article Link: Apple Adds ABC, Bloomberg, Crackle, and KORTV Channels to Apple TV
 

0815

macrumors 68000
Jul 9, 2010
1,793
1,065
here and there but not over there
It's great that they keep adding channels/apps to the Apple TV .... but now they are at the point where a major UI rewrite is required, it is getting to cluttered and the 'channels' are not integrated, but instead separate without e.g. common search interface for shows/movies/... etc
 
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isepic

macrumors member
May 10, 2008
38
11
Would be great to have the ability to hide some of the channels not interested in, now that they have so many.
 

dvswede

macrumors member
Sep 17, 2010
32
0
It's clear they are working on adding contact to the Apple TV. That said the menu system just doesn't feel right with so many apps. Also I really want to search for a show I want to see not decide what app to enter first to search for it.

I hope they have something better in the works. As it is I find that I mainly use NetFlix and the apple apps.
 

snowbaked

macrumors newbie
Oct 24, 2011
5
0
I'm seeing KORTV show up in the UK but sadly not the disney channel, although probably a good thing as my kids would want to be glued to it.
 

hrMACnstuff

macrumors regular
Jan 5, 2009
116
104
Apple must get big cable payoffs for doing this.

The trend is away from ever escalating cable bills. If they want to provide a reason to buy an Apple TV, they should buy Roku. That's the future. With a lot of luck, Comcast, DirecTV, Dish and Time-Warner will become the next Blockbuster. Remember them?
 

Alumeenium

macrumors regular
May 15, 2013
200
68
way too much overlapping content

do I watch a show on ABC, iTunes App Rentals, or Netflix ?!

just give me ONE short cut button to the show I want

and the ability to delete all the Cartoon / NHL / Hulu / QVC channels I don't need

:confused::confused::confused:
 

clukas

macrumors 6502a
May 3, 2010
990
401
Would be great to have the ability to hide some of the channels not interested in, now that they have so many.

You can rearrange them for now which is good enough for me. I think we will see more functionality as they add app capability to the ATV.
 

BJMRamage

macrumors 68030
Oct 2, 2007
2,710
1,233
this is all good news...however now it is a bit more cumbersome to navigate.

And then we need to "activate" some channels. Hopefully ABC is a non-activation one.

This will be nice see how it works out. I also wish it was easier to switch over to this from the TV/Fios box.
 

Mistrblank

macrumors regular
Jun 7, 2010
235
0
It's great that they keep adding channels/apps to the Apple TV .... but know they are a point where a major UI rewrite is required, it is getting to cluttered and the 'channels' are not integrated, but instead separate without e.g. common search interface for shows/movies/... etc

Agreed. My AppleTV was never bought to support all of this.

They just get in the way of the few "channels" I did want (Netflix, Hulu, the apple media defaults).

All of these additions were supported by my iDevices streaming to the TV. I don't browse Vimeo or Youtube on the AppleTV, it's a terrible interface. I'd rather grab my phone, search and push the stream to the AppleTV.

I can't even use half of these because they require cable plans. I probably won't use ABC channel because it doesn't have anything useful, and what useful things it has, I can't get at easily.
 

BJMRamage

macrumors 68030
Oct 2, 2007
2,710
1,233
so, I just checked out Apple.com

for WATCH ABC the asterisk said this:
Free with your subscription through participating cable and satellite providers.


What stinks is my parents have NEVER subscribed to cable/satellite/dish/etc. They are still using their HUGE antenna on the roof for HDTV (quite clear too) broadcasts. They can easily watch ABC on TV or online BUT seems they won't be able to with Apple TV.

I understand this is probably an ABC thing and not something Apple dictated but it SUCKS! especially since ABC is an Over-The-Air network!
 

neuropsychguy

macrumors 68020
Sep 29, 2008
2,354
5,534
The absence of Amazon Instant Video is still baffling.

Except that Amazon is a direct competitor to Apple and I doubt both companies are interested in adding an Amazon Video app to the Apple TV. Having it on iOS is one thing but directly on the Apple TV is another (especially with Amazon soon launching an Apple TV-like device of their own).

That being said, I'd love an Amazon video app on the Apple TV but for now using AirPlay to send it from the iPad works great.
 

zhenya

macrumors 604
Jan 6, 2005
6,929
3,677
It's great that they keep adding channels/apps to the Apple TV .... but know they are a point where a major UI rewrite is required, it is getting to cluttered and the 'channels' are not integrated, but instead separate without e.g. common search interface for shows/movies/... etc

Not to mention separate logins for every app/channel. It's a mess.
 

malexandria

Suspended
Mar 25, 2009
971
427
Open it Up

I strongly dislike my Apple TV. Even the Netflix App pretty much sucks on it. However, I HAD to get two of them just because I have 140 Digital Copy movies that will only play on stupid iTunes - and the iTunes Extras ONLY work on the computer. When you rent an iTunes movie on your computer it won't even play on the Apple TV.

I wish Apple would open it up like the Roku box and give us some sort of control over what Apps gets put on there and not put on there. Where is Epix? What a freaking garbage product, Apple should be ashamed...
 
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